There's something about myself that I find interesting. It's that when I really struggle with a book I start to keep lists. These lists contain the little things that made me groan or roll my eyes, and they are the things that I can't wait to come in here and rant all about in my review.The fact that I don't feel the urge to keep a list is pretty much what pushes a book from a 3 star to a 4 star book. Now, some of my 3 star books don't have lists but maybe it's because there wasn't something in particular that I didn't like. It was probably that I just didn't feel connected to the story. However I'm pretty sure that there aren't any 4 star books with lists. Why? Because they were so good that I was completely invested in the story and incapable of remembering to write anything down.The downside of no lists means that when it comes to writing my review I have a hard time remembering what about the book made me love it so much. So, in a nutshell, that's where I'm at right now with Looking for Alaska.This book was deep. The characters were full-bodied, (no, not in girth! In emotion and personality!). It reminds me of when I was a drama geek in high school, and our drama teacher was trying to get us to understand how little things makes a character, the mannerisms that are what makes that fictional person come alive. She sat us down and made us watch the Breakfast Club because she said it was a good example of how each actor really embodied the role they were playing. Well I feel like this is another great example of how to write a good character. Each one just popped right off the pages in their own utterly unique way. No matter how much I try to think of one that I loved the most, I can't pick just one. Somehow I fell in love with each of them! Even Lara and Alaska! In all honesty, some of my favorite books are my favorites because of how the characters are written and because of the relationships between them. (Jellicoe Road, Stephen Kings It, Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son). This book was up there in that category. Maybe this was a group of rebel kids in a boarding school, but they had each others back. They were a solid group of friends, and I felt like I was one of them.There's also a surprise that I wont spoil for you. I'll just say that I had no idea this was coming and it really shook me up. If you have this on your list, you won't be doing yourself a disservice to pick it up and read it. It's emotional, it's funny, it's endearing... it's just worth it.
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